Limeum fruticosumSchellenb. [family MOLLUGINACEAE ] Verified by Not on sheet., Limeum aethiopicumNot on sheet. [family MOLLUGINACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Not on sheet.,
Related name
Limeum aethiopicum
Limeum fruticosum
Flora
Entry for LIMEUM fruticosum Verdc. [family MOLLUGINACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora Somalia
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by M. G. Gilbert [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Woody shrub to 1.8 m high; distinct short-shoots present; young long-shoots pale, soon developing dark grey bark with a few whitish fibres; all parts glabrous. Leaves mostly in clusters on short-shoots, alternate on long-shoots, subsessile, linear-oblanceolate, 9–15(–24) x 1–2 mm, tip rounded. Flowers 1–few together on short shoots. Sepals unequal, ovate, 4–5.5 x 1.5–3 mm, tip subacute. Staminodes up to 4, linear-elliptic to spathulate, 1.5–2.2 mm long. Stamens 7–8, broad basal part sharply delineated from slender tip with transverse ?glandular appendage at junction. Mericarps hemispherical, 3 x 5 mm, obscurely reticulate with narrowly winged margin along line of contact.
A very distinct narrow endemic known only from two small areas in Ethiopia and Somalia. The superficial appearance is more that of Lycium (Solanaceae) or Seddera (Convolvulaceae) than a member of the Molluginaceae.
